Fire-escape



(No Model.)

A. G. GORDON.

FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 448,227. Patented Mar. 17, 1891.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAM G. GORDON, OF CHESTER, ILLINOIS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming" part of Letters Patent No. 448,227, dated March 17, 1891..

Application filed September 20,1890. Serial No. 365,613. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ABRAM G. GORDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chester, county of Randolph, and State of Illinois, have invented a certain ne'wand useful Fire- Escape, of which the following is such a full, clear, and exact description as will enable any one skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates more particularly to fire-escapes, but may be used to govern the descent of any body for other purposes.

The invention consists of features which will be hereinafter described in full, and then particularly pointed out in the claims making a part hereof.

The invention will be best understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a front elevation, partly in section, of one form of my invention; and Fig. 2, a side elevation thereof.

The same figures of reference indicate the same parts in the two views.

5 is the frame-work of the apparatus and is adapted to be secured in an upright position to the side of a building or anywhere, preferably near a window, so as to be of easy access.

6 is a shaft journaled in suitable hearings on the frame 5. i r

7 is a sleeve carried by said shaft, bearing a drum or reel 8. This drum or reel is divided into two parts for the reception of two tapes, cables, or cords 9 10. Ordinarily, if a person were to take hold of a tape or a weight were applied thereto, the drum would rotate with uniformly accelerated motion (the same as a body in falling freely) and acquire a dangerous velocity. In order to prevent this acceleration and render the descent safe and of any desired speed, I provide one or more automatic governors for controlling the rate of rotation of the drum upon which the tapes are wound. The drum may be coupled to the shaft by means of a clutch 11 or in any other Way, the purpose of which clutch will be fully set forth hereinafter.

Before describing in detail the governor herein shown for regulating the descent, I will state that I do not wish to limit my invention to the specific form of said governor herein set forth, as other forms of automatic governors can be employed.

On the ends of the shaft 6 are cranks 12, set at right angles to each other. These cranks are coupled by means of wrist-pins 13 to piston -rods 1a, which work through stuffingboxes 15 in oscillating cylinders 16, pivoted in the frame 5 of the apparatus. The pistonrods are each provided with a piston-head 17, which preferably has one or more perforations therethrough. These cylinders 16 may contain any suitable fluid, and in this connection I use the word fluid in its broadest and scientific significance, meaning thereby any body which possesses the characteristic of a fiuid-to wit, mobility of particles. Thus, for instance, air or any gas or liquid may be contained in the cylinders. These cylinders are of course hermetically sealed at all points. The perforations in the pistonheads allow the pistons to move back and forth and the fluid to pass from one side to the other of the piston-head s, depending upon which direction the pistons are moving in; The area of the perforations in the pistonheads determines the rate of speed of movement of the pistons for any given fluid, and

any other expedient adopted to allow the pistons to reciprocate to secure the same end.

I use two cylinders or governors for regulating the descent, for the reason that where one only of the character described is used the motion in descending is more or less jerky, owing to the fact that the movement IOO of the pistons through a given distance does not move the crank through the same distance in the different positions of the crank, or, in other words, the movement of the crank through a given space does not at. all times correspond to the movement of the pistons through the same space. The rate of rotation of the drum would thus be alternately fast and slow. Two governors of the character described operating at right angles to each other obviate this objection. One governor of special construction can, however, be made to secure the desired result. I do not wish, therefore, to confine my invention to two governors, except where expressly specified in the claims making a part hereof. The tapes I wind upon the drum by preference in opposite directions-that is, one is wound upon the drum in the direction of the travel of the hands of a watch and the other in an opposite direction. The object of using two tapes and winding them in the manner described is that when one tape is used in descending the other will be wound up, so that one tape will always be wound and ready for use. The drum Sis coupled to the shaft 6 by a clutch 11, heretofore referred to, and this clutch is adapted to be shifted by a handle 18,

pivoted to the frame of the apparatus, so that when the apparatus is not in use the tape that is wound up may have its end suitably secured by a hook l9, affixed to said tape, to prevent it from unwinding and the drum operated by hand to wind up the other tape. The clutch. allows the drum to be rotated freely to wind up the tapes without operating the automatic governor, which can only be actuated by the expenditure of considerable force.

Any other means of winding up the tape after using the apparatus may be used without departing from my invention, and any *means of allowing the drum to be operated without actuating the governor may be adopted.

In using the apparatus as a fire-escape a person merely unhooks one of the tapes and descends by it to the ground. When that person has descended, another person,by unhooking the other tape, may descend by it and will at the same time wind up the firstmentioned tape, so that it may be used by a third person, and so on. A stirrup or any device, as 20, can be fastened to the ends of the tape, in order that persons may conveniently descend by the tapes. The apparatus may be used not only as a fire-escape, but may be employedfor any purpose. It may be made of any size, and in practice would not be of such a size as to be objectionable, being much less cumbersome than fire-escape ladders or staircases which are permanently attached to buildings. One of these apparatuses can be placed near the window of each room of a building, or a less number can be used.

The apparatus is cheap and simple, not liable to get out of order, and is always ready for use.

lVhat I desire to claim, and secure by Letters Patent of the United States, as my invention is I p 1. An apparatus for permitting the descent of persons or bodies, consisting of a drum having one or more liexibleconnections wound thereupon, an automatic governor for regulating the speed of rotation of said drum, and a man uall'y-operated means for disconnecting the drum from the automatic governor and permitting the flexible connect-ions to be rewound without actuating the governor by rotating the drum by hand.

An apparatus for permitting the descent of persons or bodies, consisting of a drum having two flexible connections wound thereupon in opposite directions, each of which is rewound by the unwinding of the other, an automatic governor for regulating the speed of rotation of said drum, a catch for suitably securing the ends of the flexible connections, and means for permitting the drum to be rotated by hand, for the purpose described.

3. An apparatus for permitting the descent of persons or bodies, embodying a drum-having two flexibleconnections wound thereupon in opposite directions, a catch for suitably securing the free ends of the flexible connections, a manually-operated means for connecting said drum to a shaft, two cranks carried by said shaft, a perforated piston operated by each crank, and oscillating cylinders containing a suitable fluid in which said perforated pistons work.

' In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal, this 17th day of September,1890,in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

ABRAM G.

lVitnesses:

FRANK R. McATEn, JAMES J. MoRRIsoN.

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